Frank Roundpoint’s Legacy in Lacrosse

Frank “Tewesatene” Roundpoint – (1899 – 1968)

Inducted into Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame – Nov 2025 

Submitted by:

Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell 

Chairman - Akwesasne Lacrosse Hall of Fame

Frank “Tewesatene” Roundpoint was born on Cornwall Island, Akwesasne in 1899, he attended” the Indian day school” on the island just long enough to learn how to read and write. Frank was a very shy individual, He had trouble understanding the English language, so he received additional studies from his mother before going into to the work force with his brother Alex. The two brothers would soon make their mark in history as excellent craftsmen in making lacrosse sticks. 

Frank "Tewesatene" Roundpoint, had a vision of building a lacrosse factory in his home community of Akwesasne.

Comprised of an all-Mohawk work force, capable of supplying a worldwide market demand for lacrosse sticks.

Like many families in Akwesasne, Frank “Tewesatene” and Alex “Ahronioktha” were born into a lacrosse family where everyone had a hand in the making of lacrosse sticks. They were neighbors to the White brothers who included John (Te wah en na soon) White, already famous lacrosse player, Mathew White well known lacrosse stick maker and their brothers, Louie, Lawrence and Peter, who were pretty good lacrosse players and stick makers themselves.     

The Beginning 

Frank “Tewesatene”- (He changes the ice) and his brother Alex “Ahroniontha”– (He brings down the sky) started their lacrosse stick-making journey by working for the Lally Lacrosse Stick Manufacturing company at Cornwall, Ontario during the 1920’s. After a short employment stint, they became disillusioned with the Lally lacrosse factory workshop environment in Cornwall and came back home to Cornwall Island, (Akwesasne) with the intent of starting up their own all-Indigenous Lacrosse stick factory manufacturing. Soon other many of the Mohawk craftsmen would come home as well and brought their stick carving skills back to their home community of Akwesasne. Due to the geographic nature of the island, with Canada and the United States bordering on both sides and with access to the U.S. and Canadian railways, it didn’t take long for U.S. Colleges, Universities and the Canadian lacrosse teams to begin ordering lacrosse sticks in bulk directly from the new Cornwall Island Mohawk lacrosse Stick Factory. 

 This is a picture of the first Cornwall Island lacrosse stick factory that was built in the 1930's, as demand for more sticks grew, so did the factory output, at one point, the island factory produced 97% percent of all lacrosse stick sales to the world market and employed over a hundred Mohawk crafts people from the Akwesasne community.

Frank was a mild tempered easy going type person and widely known as an expert in the craft of lacrosse stick-making. His brother Alec was more an outdoors man and knew the wooded area around Akwesasne, so he knew how to maintain a steady flow of hickory tree logs for their present and future operations.  

The bending of a lacrosse stick requires several steps. First, a large amount of hickory wood pieces slightly carved at one end is put into a steamer. These pieces are then taken out and bent into the shape of a lacrosse stick, then held by a singular piece of wire to keep its new shape. Factory workers would then inspect any frames for cracks or signs of damage, after inspection rough sticks would go to the sanding room.

Frank knew the age of a hickory tree that they would need to select for cutting, while choosing others to grow for future cutting. They made a good team, one man who loved the outdoors and the other who knew the ancient craft of stick-making, still they needed someone who had business experience with the outside world so they would keep looking for the right person.  It was at this time that they made an overture to a Scottish teacher named Colin Chisholm who had recently started working at the Cornwall Island Indian Day School, he agreed to assist the Roundpoint family by taking some of their lacrosse sticks to national lacrosse meetings to test the market. He soon found out that there was tremendous interest in the purchasing the Mohawk lacrosse sticks in bulk orders, so he set up a marketing and distribution plan. He would later become a part time partner in their new lacrosse business operations. Colin Chisholm looked after the promotion/marketing of their product and with his public speaking abilities he gave them the exposure needed while maintaining his day job as a teacher. 

The demand for lacrosse sticks made by the Roundpoint family grew into a National and international world market, with orders coming in from all corners of the world. Colin Chisholm did the promotion and marketing, while Frank and his family produced the high-quality sticks needed, “quality and quantity became their working motto.”  

Alex Roundpoint loved the outdoors and knew where to look for hickory trees in and around Akwesasne to make good lacrosse sticks, soon nearby farmers started offering to sell their hickory tree wood to the island lacrosse factory. The Roundpoint brothers were off to a good business start.

Roundpoint had become the stabilizing force in the Akwesasne community. The workers trusted him and the community respected him. His vision of producing the highest quality products of lacrosse sticks to the world population was slowly becoming a reality. The Roundpoint lacrosse stick factory was now headed to becoming a lacrosse manufacturing dynasty.  

Frank “Tewesatene” Roundpoint would attract the highest gifted crafts people from the Akwesasne community, and within a short time period, the lacrosse factory would employ over a hundred crafts people from the local Mohawk community, who excelled in the various levels of lacrosse stick making. The manufacturing business grew rapidly, and soon the lacrosse factory became overwhelmed with the large volume of orders from Canada, the United States and a growing list of new orders from Europe.

Frank Roundpoint knew that a good lacrosse stick had to be aged; after splitting the tree wood into various parts, he would leave them in standing storage in the back yard for curing. After a few months he would have the split wood brought back into the factory and into the steam room, then stacked inside for more aging and curing. The carving of the wood shaft would then begin.

The quality and volume produced by the Roundpoint family met the order request to cover the sporting world’s need for traditional wooden lacrosse sticks. For the next fifty years, the Roundpoint family supplied 97 percent of lacrosse sticks orders to the world. With the growing success in sales, the island factory had to expand in size, as well as the volume of sticks manufactured. Most the families did the lacing of lacrosse sticks from their individual homes. A worker from the factory would come to all the homes and pick up the lacrosse stick orders once a week and leave the new stick frames to be laced for the following week. 

Frank Roundpoint didn’t just stay in the lacrosse stick manufacturing side; he also supported the local area’s lacrosse teams through team sponsorship and taking a personal interest in the growth of the game by supplying lacrosse sticks to all minor teams in the area.  

The Roundpoint brothers, Wallace, Gilbert, and Ronald, were part of many championship teams that came out of Akwesasne/St. Regis in the 30's, 40's and 50's. The team at the time were known as the St. Regis Indians and had a great following from Akwesasne. The other lacrosse communities in eastern Ontario included Cornwall, Ottawa, Brockville, St. Andrews, Long Sault, and Maxville.

(L to R) Gilbert, Wallace, and Ronald Roundpoint. They all became expert craftsmen in the art of lacrosse stick making and would be trained by their father to be expert carvers and stick makers. The Roundpoint brothers added to the championship teams from Akwesasne, including the Sunday and the Thomas brothers. They would also go on to enjoy many successful years of championship lacrosse in eastern Ontario, and Quebec Sr. Leagues.

Frank had three sons, and they all played lacrosse from the 1940s into the 1960s. The business side of their lives became active in the various aspects of lacrosse stick making guided by their father to produce high quality sticks.  

Pictured above are the two Roundpoint brothers, Ronald (left), and Wallace (right). They became quite famous as wooden stick carvers and built a solid reputation for having excellent craftsmanship. This reputation would also build a large following as the label on the stick would identify the maker, and the carver. Henceforth, the Roundpoint lacrosse stick would become a favorite to purchase amongst the players.

From the outset the Roundpoint brothers provided the raw materials while the Mohawk craftsmen did the entire stick making.  Mr. Chisholm became the marketing promoter and sales manager, which he continued to do until his retirement.  

The success enjoyed by the Island Lacrosse Factory attracted a whole new generation of lacrosse stick makers. Many had learned the craft of carving hardwood hickory stick from their elders of past years. The factory afforded the opportunity for craftspeople to have centralized production of lacrosse sticks, allowing them to focus solely on their work in front of them without external influences.

By the middle of the 1940’s the business was thriving and filling the growing order list, employing more local craftsmen and adding on to a larger factory. Supply logistics was an issue as the bridges to and from the island were solely for trains, and raw materials could reach the factory only during the winter months when horses could haul the logs across the frozen St. Lawrence River. A year later, Alex’s persuasive ways allowed them to rent a New York Central push-car and flat bed, which could be used while the regular train went to Ottawa and back. This would be the last contribution from Alec as he passed shortly after, he lived long enough to taste success.  

Given the continued success of the Roundpoint lacrosse stick factory, the Lally lacrosse factory slowly declined, soon after, Frank Lally approached Colin Chisholm to buy out his business, with the condition that he did not include the one remaining Roundpoint brother, Frank Roundpoint. Chisholm was not prepared to do that and about one year later. Lally agreed to sell the business to Colin Chisholm and Frank Roundpoint, at twice the price he offered a year earlier when Mr. Chisholm would have been the sole purchaser. Chisholm was respected by the Akwesasne lacrosse stick makers and vice-versa; he also became well known to the Canadian lacrosse organizations and was inducted to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame during the 1970’s by the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in the “Builder’s category”. 

Due to the high demand in Canada and around the world, the Cornwall Island Mohawk Lacrosse stick factory began increasing production of lacrosse sticks by employing more stick makers, carvers and lacers to meet the national and international sales demand.

Instead of working from home, women lacers would come into the factory for a more centralized work environment. This in turn, would create the work atmosphere to produce a greater volume of sticks for international export.

At the height of lacrosse popularity in Canada, USA as well as other parts of the world, the main provider of lacrosse sticks to the world ended abruptly, on June 8^th, 1968, when the Roundpoint lacrosse factory burnt to the ground in a tragic fire, that included all the manufacturing equipment that he had designed for use of “factory” production.  

Frank “Tewesatene” Roundpoint was devastated, and he would die a month later. Frank had reached the highest level of success without realizing how much he had accomplished. His mission to place a high-quality wooden lacrosse stick in the hands of every lacrosse player of all ages had been accomplished. Tota Frank loved what he did as a craftsman as well as being a good provider to his community.  

The mild-mannered craftsman from Akwesasne had achieved a level of success that was admired by the sports community around the world. Frank “Tewesatene” Roundpoint made his mark in lacrosse history by suppling well-crafted wooden lacrosse sticks to every lacrosse player that wanted to play the “Creators game” of lacrosse.     

Akwesasne families were very proud to have meaningful skilled employment in their Mohawk community. Many parents took the time and effort to train their children to preserve the traditional skills of lacing lacrosse sticks. It meant for some families, an opportunity for an ancient tradition to survive and continue to benefit a new generation of crafts people in Akwesasne.  

Years after he had passed, Frank “Tewesatene” Roundpoint would receive the recognition and appreciation by his home community of Akwesasne. He was acknowledged as having made a substantial contribution to the people of Akwesasne by building a lacrosse manufacturing factory and locating it in his Akwesasne community. A factory he had started back in the late 1920’s.   

In the 1980’s, almost a century later, the road leading to the former lacrosse factory was renamed to acknowledge his contribution to his home community of Akwesasne. The old “factory road” name was changed to his Mohawk name there after honouring him with a tittle that would become “The Tewesatene Roadway” 

The “Lacrosse Canada” President’s Cup Sr. B Lacrosse Trophy

  

A formal resolution was passed by the Akwesasne Lacrosse Hall of Fame to have Frank “Tewesatene” Roundpoint inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame to recognize his many years as contributor to the game of lacrosse, and as a craftsman, builder, provider and supplier of lacrosse sticks to a national and international world market. Equally importantly to the people of Akwesasne, as the founder of the original Roundpoint Lacrosse Factory where he brought great pride and honour to his people of Akwesasne.  

The Canadian Lacrosse Association board of directors approved a request for a President's Cup Senior B trophy name-change by the Mohawks of Akwesasne in 1996 with the following inscription:

" Donated by the Iroquois Lacrosse Association and the 1995 Presidents Cup winners, The Akwesasne Thunder, in honour and memory of the late Frank 'Tewesatene' Roundpoint, 'Grandfather of Lacrosse' - Akwesasne Mohawk "

Based on the information we have gathered and provided above, we are happy to report that Frank Tewesatene Roundpoint was accepted for induction to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame and his life accomplishments will be formally recognized and honoured on November 2^{nd, 2025,} at the annual Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Six Nations, Grand River Ontario.